“Unbreak My Heart,” Melissa Walker’s novel for young adults, is refreshingly clear-eyed, a frank look at the jagged aftermath of a romance gone wrong.

Clementine is shattered after being caught with her best friend’s boyfriend (nothing more than G-rated; Clementine and the boy, Ethan, never do more than kiss, if that; it’s vague). she can’t forgive herself for betraying her best friend, can’t understand why she allowed herself to fall for the boy, who somehow remains blameless for much of the story.

She sorts things out, slowly, on a summer river trip that’s enforced family time on a sailboat. She is predictably unenthusiastic about the idea of spending summer with Mom, Dad and her little sister. Clementine wanders two steps forward, one step back, in her journey toward forgiveness, aided by a charming redhead who’s on a journey of his own.

Walker nails the confusion, rage, self-pity and self-accusations that are part and parcel of a dumpee, and equally astute in characterizing Clementine’s slow, choppy return to reality. It’s a great book for a reader struggling with her (or his) own heartbreak, terrific especially because true healing requires both accountability and contrition.